Gear Check: Timmerman Traverse for Damon Runyon Heads to Kilimanjaro

09 Feb 2026

Gear check is when it starts getting fun and getting real.

Our team of 21 hikers has arrived in Tanzania and gotten all our gear sorted. We’ll start the trek on Kilimanjaro Feb. 10. Then we spend the next seven days together on the trails to the top of the highest peak in Africa, elevation 19,341 feet / 5,895 meters.

We are getting to know each other over meals. We’re cracking jokes. We’re soaking up the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Tanzanian people.

It’s time to slow down and savor these days. We’ve put in months of hard work getting physically and mentally ready, and tapping our networks to raise $1.2 million for high-risk / high-reward cancer research through the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

Thanks to all of you who contributed. If you haven’t yet contributed, there’s still time to do so here at Qgive. You can also follow our day-to-day progress on the mountain here.

Enjoy a few photos from Orientation Day in Arusha.